Everyone enjoys that new car smell, but it's also great having a car without any damage to the exterior. Scratches soon start appearing on the paintwork through normal wear and tear, and polishing them out gets tedious quickly. So, Mazda came up with a solution that also turns out to be better for the environment.

Working with Mitsubishi Chemical, Mazda developed a new "bio engineering plastic" created using Isosorbide, which is a non-toxic compound derived from plant matter. This new plastic is highly scratch resistant and weather proof, as well as offering the strength needed to produce a vehicle to the required safety standards. It can also be easily formed into any required shape.

Typically, vehicles use a mix of metal, oil-based polycarbonates, and painted resin (ABS) to form their outer shell. The painted resin is initially what Mazda aims to replace with this new plastic. As well as the strength, scratch, and weather proofing, Mazda's plastic, classed as a bio-polycarbonite, does not require painting.

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It can still be finished in a range of colors, made to be mirror-like, or even transparent, but no painting is required regardless of the finish. The bonus of that being no harmful paint emissions (VOC - volatile organic compounds) during production. The plastic does cost more to produce, but ultimately saves money due to removing the painting process expenditure.

Mazda is using the bio-plastic for small sections of the exterior of its new Roadster RF compact convertible launching in Japan this week. The same plastic is also used more extensively to form the interior of Mazda's vehicles, including the Roadster, Axela sedan, Demio compact car, and the CX-9 SUV.

With the range of finishes, removal of hramful paint, cost savings, and resistance to weather and scratches, hopefully one day soon we'll see an entire car body formed out of this unpainted plastic.

About the Author

Matthew is PCMag's UK-based editor and news reporter. Prior to joining the team, he spent 14 years writing and editing content on our sister site Geek.com and has covered most areas of technology, but is especially passionate about games tech. Alongside PCMag, he's a freelance video game designer. Matthew holds a BSc degree in Computer Science from... See Full Bio

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